WASHINGTON -- Washington Capitals coach Barry Trotz has recently been talking about depth scoring. Thursday night was what he had in mind.

Lars Eller had two goals, including the game-winner with 3:21 left, and added an assist as the Capitals defeated the New York Islanders 4-3.

Minutes after Washington killed off a New York power play, Eller took a feed from Tom Wilson and came down the left side. He fired high from the left circle and beat Islanders goalie Jaroslav Halak on the short side.

Eller centers Washington's third line. Fourth-line winger Alex Chiasson and third-pair defenseman Taylor Chorney also scored for Washington (6-6-1).

"Eller's line and the secondary scoring was huge for us tonight," Trotz said. "Really today I thought their top six were a little stronger than our top six, they were. Our bottom six was stronger than their bottom six."

Chandler Stephenson had the first two assists of his career for Washington and John Carlson also picked up two assists.

Washington took four one-goal leads, finally holding on to the last one despite being outshot 16-2 in the third period.

The Islanders trailed 3-2 after two periods, but Anders Lee tied it at 7:00 when he got hit by a Thomas Hickey shot and fired the loose puck past goalie Braden Holtby for his second goal of the night to go along with an assist.

Holtby stopped 35 shots.

"We had plenty of shots, plenty of opportunities to win this hockey game," Islanders coach Doug Weight said. "It's disappointing."

John Tavares added a goal and an assist for the Islanders, who lost for the second time in seven games. Tavares has 10 goals in his last six games. Halak stopped 15 shots for New York (7-5-1).

"I think all 60 minutes were good," Tavares said. "We've just got to clean up some of the chances off the rush. That's really where they got their goals tonight. We played a pretty good hockey game. Obviously, you'd like to put a couple more in."

Islanders winger Josh Bailey extended his point streak to a career-high eight games with two assists.

The Islanders appeared to have an excellent scoring chance when they entered the Capitals zone four-on-two early in the first period. However, they turned the puck over and Washington came back three-on-one.

Stephenson fanned on the shot but controlled the puck and fed Chorney at the point. Chorney's low shot evaded a bunch of skates and found its way through Halak's pads at 5:55.

It was Chorney's first goal of the season and the first time in eight games that the Capitals scored first.

"It felt strange," Trotz joked of the 1-0 lead. "I didn't know what to do."

New York pulled even six seconds into a power play, at 13:01 of the first period. Tavares' redirect was stopped by Holtby, but Tavares was able to poke the loose puck home for his 12th goal of the seasson.

The Capitals regained the lead when Eller's one-timer from the slot went between Halak's legs at 16:19 of the first.

"If you don't have depth scoring … it's hard to win," Chiasson said. "It's hard to rely on the same guys to bring the offense every night. You need other guys to chip in. Lars line tonight was our best line."

The score remained 2-1 until the Islanders picked up their second power-play goal late in the second period. Lee finished off a pretty passing sequence with a one-timer from the slot.

The tie was short-lived.

Just 12 seconds later, Chiasson scored his first of the season -- and first as a Capital -- when his blast from the left circle beat Halak to the far side.

"They get a power play goal and we come right back and take the lead again," Chiasson said. "I think momentum's key in this game and a game like tonight it kind of swung between shifts and it's nice to come in after two shifts feeling good about yourself."

NOTES: Capitals C Lars Eller picked up his 100th career assist. ... Islanders C John Tavares played his 600th NHL game. ... Tavares left the game briefly in the first period when he was hit in the head by Devante Smith-Pelly's stick on a follow-through. ... Washington F Brett Connolly (concussion protocol) missed his third consecutive game. F Tyler Graovac (upper body injury) missed his sixth. ... The Capitals recalled F Liam O'Brien from Hershey of the American Hockey League and reassigned F Anthony Peluso to the Bears. ... Washington LW Alex Ovechkin posted a message supporting Vladimir Putin in Russian on his Instagram account Thursday. According to The Washington Post, Ovechkin's post announced he's starting "a social movement called Putin Team." The Russian presidential election is slated for March 18.